The Nebraska Fillemans

New York, Tuesday,Day Three, 10/25/2011

2012-01-06T14:59:00.000-06:00

Today was tons of fun! I slept a little later because I wanted to miss rush hour on the train. I headed over at about 9:30. I took the PATH train to the World Trade Center because the Smithsonian was a few blocks from there. The actual Smithsonian is in Washington D.C., but this was a branch of it, with a focus on Native Americans. Having grown up in Arizona though, I learned a lot about Native Americans so I didn't spend much time there. As with everything else we had to put our things through the x-ray machine and we had to go through the metal detectors. It was a really beautiful building. I had to go down Wall Street again to get there, so I saw the "bull" again. After the Smithsonian I walked a few more blocks to Battery Park, where the Staten Island Ferry is. One of the trains there took me to Central Park to go to the Museum of Natural History where one of the Night at the Museum movies was filmed. GREAT MOVIE! Anyway, The Museum of Natural History is right on the edge of Central Park, another beautiful building in the middle of beautiful landscape. Again, I had to go through metal detectors and send my things through an x-ray machine. this museum was so huge! it cost me $19 to get in, but for the size of this place, it was well worth it. They had four huge sprawling floors of just about everything imaginable. Each floor even had it's own gift shop! on the top floor there was also a restaurant and a snack bar on the second floor. I got to see Dum Dum, the Dino, and a bunch of other things from the movie. The museum was packed with very neat things. LOVED IT!! I could have easily spent all day there, but I had too much to do! After the museum, I was starved, it was almost 2pm. I found a street vendor and ate a hotdog. As I was walking through Cental Park with my Subway map, I saw the Central Park Zoo and a nice gentleman asked me what I was looking for. I told him wanted to go to Rockefellar Center. He told me what train to get on. I headed there and checked out NBC studios, the went to the Lego Store. I bought a couple things there also.

After that, I headed to Grand Central Station. It was a long walk, but it was nice. On my way there I got to see some Brookstone homes that Mary was wanting me to see. They really are beautiful. They are the ones wih the big stone staircases in front. Very pretty! Grand Central Station was beautiful too! My Pictures all came out terrible, but it was so neat in there. On the way out I noticed a market area. I have never seen one of these markets anywhere but the Dominican Republic. It is one of those markets that have fresh cheese, fresh fish, fresh meat, etc. It smelled bad in there, and it was so busy, I could hardly make it through. Once I was back on the street, I took a look at my GPS on the Android. I decided to do some shopping. I heard someone mention the American Girl store. MaKenna doesn't have an American Girl, but she does have a Journey doll, which is just a generic American Girl, so I looked it up on GPS, and I headed toward fifth avenue. I decided to walk to save money on my PATH and train card. It was a long walk but so nice to see. I was looking for famous people, but I kept focusing on the buildings more. Did I mention that last night I saw former mayor Rudy Giuliani? I didn't say anything to him though. I did see some paparazzi but I didn't recognize anybody that they were photographing. I finally made it to the American Girl store. It was four HUGE floors of just dolls and accessories. Cam, who is scare of dolls, would have never survived this store. I took tons of pictures for MaKenna. I called Deana to see if she wanted me to get anything for Hannah. We talked for awhile, then I picked a nice outfit out for Hannahs bitty baby for her birthday. Then I got some accessories for MaKenna for Christmas and some really cute outfits. Then I was in the shopping mood. So I decided to go to FAO Scwartz. Neat store, but I didn't find anything there that I couldn't live without. I took a few pictures though, like the giant piano that Tom Hanks played on in the movie "Big", etc.

After that I walked to Central Park again, a different part of Central Park...it was right across the street. I had to sit for awhile, my feet and legs were hurting pretty bad. Every night of our trip so far, I've had to take a bath to soak my feet and legs. Anyway, I sat there for awhile and just watched people. Then I called Jeff. He said he'd be working late. I thought maybe I would go to Little Italy or Chinatown to eat dinner. I wasn't sure though. It had started getting dark, and I can remember Mary saying that New York City is safe as long as you're not out alone after dark and aware of your surroundings....which I most certainly was not. So I started walking towards Times Square. I had to stop at Walgreens to get some....womanly needs. I went to the Walgreens in the middle of Times Square. It was an itty bitty box of a store, but it was five floors! It was crazy! Then I took more pictures of Times Square. At one point I was even walking faster than a fire truck and ambulance trying to get through with their sirens on. I would not want to have a heart attack in New York City....or at least Manhattan. I saw lots of limos and black SUVs. By now it was dark, so I knew I had to head back....but I saw the Bubba Gump restaurant and I had to stop and get some souvenirs for everyone. It was then that I decided to have a Bubba Gump 4th birthday party for Major! I've called him Bubba Gump since day one of his life, I felt it was appropriate. So I went and bought a shirt for everyone. Including Major that said, "my mama says I'm special." I also got a pen, a bag and a stuffed shrimp for Maj. Then I thought I should head to the PATH train. It took awhile to get back to Jersey. The train was packed. I sat next to a pregnant woman and her three year old son. We talked a little bit, it made me miss Major. Once I hit Jesey soil, I ran to our room and grabbed Jeff. We decided to go to Azucar, the Cuban restaurant down the street. We got there and got seated right away. The food was INCREDIBLE!! Azucar was featured on the Food Network. And rightfully so. It was AWESOME! After dinner, I had to buy a cigar for my dad. He loved that Dominican cigar I brought him, so I thought we would try this one! Then we went back to the room and I took my nightly soak. What a wonderful end, to a wonderful three days!

Below....the Smithsonian.

Brownstone Homes.

The Dino in the Museum of Natural History.

Dum Dum.

The Lego Store.

Grand Central Station.

Grand Central Station Market.

American Girl Store.

FAO Swartz.

Doing his job....

Where I sat to relax....

Just thought this was cool.

I had to go to the NHL store for the men in my life....I even got to see a broadcast for the NHL Network.

Bubba Gump....

Right outside the PATH Train.

Funnies

2012-01-02T17:31:00.000-06:00

Here are some funnies to start the New Year out with!!!

Major said to me the other day when he saw a cloud of smoke coming out of a factory, "Mommy...there is a cloud close enough to go to heaven on and see your mommy!"

Jake asked if he could have cheese and crackers for the advertiser.....HA! Of course...he MEANT Appetizer!

Major has been lovin' playing Lego Indiana Jones on Wii lately. Today he asked me while I was getting lunch ready, "Mommy...can I play Indian and Jones? SO CUTE!

When Major says he needs to "Pause" something, he says, "Clause".

After a snow Storm on Saturday, we were halfway to church on Sunday when he says,"(gasp) MOMMY...it snowed EVERYWHERE!". Once we got to church he says,"MOM....it snowed at church too!!!!"

Everytime Major sees a nativity scene he says, "Mom.....look, it's baby Moses!"

The rest of October

2011-12-22T10:12:00.000-06:00

Hallowen was a lot of fun this year! We decided to go with a Wizard of Oz theme....only three of us cooperated. Major was Darth Vader, I am not really sure what Jake was, and Cam never made it because he had the start of a nasty pneumonia that would eventually put both of us in bed for over a week. Anyway...here are some of those pictures.

Did I ever show you MaKenna's birthday cake that Ms. Deana made? She had a kitty themed party!

MaKenna after losing ONE of her front teeth...she has since lost both....I have that picture somewhere...I'll get to it!

In the leaves...we had over 100 bags of leaves this season...and we didn't even bag ALL of them!

Jake in blue..

Major, Caden, Nehemiah and Jada at Pooleys Pumpkin patch.

New York, Monday, Day 2, 10/24/2011

2011-12-21T12:55:00.000-06:00

Jeff had to wake up at 7 AM this morning. Poor guy. I slept until about 8:30. Iwas due to meet my dads cousin Mary at 10AM. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to get where I needed to be. I knew that I needed to take the PATH train to 33rd and then meet Mary in front of JCPenneys across from the PATH. It seemed easy enough. But with all the people that were there yesterday, I thought I should give myself plenty of time. I left at 10:15 and made it to the 33rd st. station at 10:45. I got out and walked over to the JCPenneys sign. It was only a sign though, there wasn't actaully a JCPenneys there, so I started to panic. Thank goodnes Jeff had given me his Android, so I could call her if I needed to. I walked around the buidling though, just to be sure...but I ended up back at the JCPenny sign. I didn't have to wait long at all before I heard "Tonya?" It was Mary! We sat down and talked a little bit first. I had only met her one time when I was 10...I didn't really remember her. We made a game plan of the day then we headed to the subway to head down to the Southern tip of Manhattan to ride the Staten Island Ferry. It is a free ferry. We all boarded and we headed over to Staten Island. We got a fantastic view of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. GREAT pictures. Once we got to Staten Island we had to get off then get in line again. The whole process probably only took 30-45 minutes or so.

After, we went through Battery Park and then ate at UNO on the pier. It was yummy. We then walked up to the World Trade Center to catch the train to Central Park. I was snapping pictures the whole time. We got to this church across the street from the Trade Centers. It was OLD! It had a cemetary in it and the headstones were SO old you couldn't even read half of them. The ones you could read though they had death dates of like 1786 or some time like that. One had a mother and two of her children buried together. It was incredible. Inside they had a little memorial museum for 9/11. Since it was effected also by the fall of the trade ceneters. Inside was also the pew that George Washington used while he was in New York. He was innaugerated near this church and it is where he attended church for the 2 years that NYC was the nations capital. The church is called St. Pauls Chapel. BEAUTIFUL! We saw where they were building the new trade centers and then we caught the B train to Central Park. Central Park is huge and really pretty. There was hot dog vendors everywhere and not only in Central Park We sat by the pond with a really pretty bridge and took lots of pictures. There were horses and carriages, and here the people seemed much nicer, not near as rude. When in the concrete city it is dog eat dog. Everyone seemed to look out for only themselves. They push and shove, its terrible. But in Central Park, suddenly everyone was super nice. It was weird to be in such a beatiful, wooded area with hills, etc, and then look above the trees and see skyrises! After central park we walked down 5th ave. where all the ritzy shops are. This is also where the richest of the rich live. We saw Prada, Versace, you name it. LOADS of rich people and quite a few gay men holding hands and kissing...VERY wrong and VERY gross! We saw a few more beautiful, old churches that had been there since the 1700's and 1800's and churches that people like Jackie Onasis went to. We saw some paparazzi, but I didn't recognize anyone. They'd have to be in my face and tell me who they are for my to open my eyes. If I'm not looking for them, I won't notice them. I wasn't looking at faces much either, just the beautiful buildings. After 5th ave., we headed to Rockefellar Plaza. We saw the famous ice rink. It is a lot smaller then the movies make it seem. We saw NBC and where the Today Show tapes. I would LOVE to go to a Today Show taping...but I don't want to get up that early! :-) After Rockefellar Plaza we caught the train to 33rd st., so I could get back to New Jersey. It was about 4:45 by this time. Mary helped me from the subway station to the PATH train.

I made it back to the hotel by 5:30. The subway was packed. Jeff was already there. We had free tickets to see the 9/11 Memorial at 7. We headed BACK over to the city. The PATH train also takes you to the World Trade Center. There are 2 different NYC stops....33rd st and WTC. Anyway, we thought we'd go early and eat afterward, but they wouldn't let anyone in early. We had no idea where to eat, so I asked a couple policemen that were there. They gave us a couple of suggestions. They were super nice and total New Yorkers. We kinda wanted New York pizza, but they said we needed to go to Brooklyn for authentic New York Pizza which they say is better than Chicago pizza. We ended up walking down Wall St. and stoping at a little store to get some sode pops. By the time we made our way back to the Memorial it was almost 7. We got in line and they took us through metal detectors (Just like the Empire State Building and the Airport), we had to put our things through an X-RAY machine, there were tons of cops and security around. Once we finally got in, it was absolutely beautiful. There are two square pools that are roughly the same size as the 2 towers were. They are pools that go down deep and there is a waterfall going all the way around to the the pool some 50 ft below and then a smaller square where the water drains. I am sure my description does no justice at all. It is all sparkly and just absolutely beautiful. Along the sides there are names of everyone who died and/or are missing from the attacks. The names are etched in the metal, then under the metal there are lights so their names shine. They kept the names together in relaion to where they died. Both pools are enormous and just beautiful. They also have some of the original metal from the original towers behind glass. They are currently building more towers. One of them is already super tall and shaped like it is beginning to twist. It's really neat. Once we were done there, we got back on the PATH. We decided to eat at Azucar, the Cuban restaurant next to the hotel, but it was closed so we just ate at the hotel restaurant. Its been nice because Jeff has been able to put everything on his TDAmeritrade credit card, well, when we're together anyway. I actually haven't been spending much money, of course I plan on shoppping tomorrow! After a wonderful dinner, we retired upstairs. My feet and legs hurt so bad from walking around all day, so I took a bath. Another big day tomorrow!

The above picture is the new World Trade Center going up.

Above is the Brooklyn Bridge.

George Washingtons Pew!

New York, Sunday, Day 1, 10/23/2011

2011-12-21T09:21:00.000-06:00

New York, Sunday day 1, 10/23/11

Wow! I am so excited, but a little nervous! I am going on this trip with Jeff! It's his business trip and he asked me to come. First time he has ever asked me to join him. I was shocked, but I wasn't going to miss the opportunity. It cost me $544.00 to get airline tickets, but I didn't care....well, I cared, but you know what I mean. I just had to figure the kidfinagling. Once I figured that out it was smooth sailing, right? WRONG! Satan tried everything in his power to not let this trip happen. He didn't want Jeff and I alone together and possibly rekindle what he has tried so hard to take away. Some of the things that happened shortly before we left. #1. Jake broke his arm while hunting in Wyoming with his dad, brother, grandpa Jerry, cousin, uncle and hockey friends. We had to cast it one day before we left. #2. MaKenna had nits in her hair. We treated everything and everybody. We washed everything and everybody three days before we had to leave. #3. Just a bunch of little things that kept me on my toes and wondering if this trip would happen or not...but it did! Love and God prevailed. I got everybody packed Saturday nght!

So Sunday morning, we got up and ate. Scott (our neighbor) came and got MaKenna and Jake at 8:30. Malissa and Derek Randecker came and got Major and my van at 8:45. By 10:00 we were ready to gt to the airport. We woke up Cam to say goodbye. Rhonda and Mike were going to pick him up around 2:00, then we were off. I had my typical preflight tummy issues, but I was super excited! We only had carryon bags, so check in went pretty fast. The flight was an itty bitty puddle jumper again. I hate these, Jeff can't even stand up straight in them. Jeff and I didn't talk much. I read my magazines and he slept. It was a little over three hours when we started dropping. I was on the wrong side of the plane though, so I didn't get to see NYC from my window. The Newark airport was packed! We found the little guy, Pete, with our name on the sign though with no trouble. It was neat to have someone pick us up like that! Though Jeff is probably used to it. He took my bag and even opened the car door for me. It was a nice big town car. I talked a lot to Pete because Jeff isn't very talkative. I think I embarrassed Jeff a little bit. What's new? :-). He says he never speaks to the drivers....he says you're not supposed to, but I don't believe him! I like to talk to people, So, I talked to Pete. He was from Pakistan. He gave me some tips on how to get by in New York City. Our hotel was the DoubleTree, $354.00 a night! Thank goodness TDAmeritrade was paying for it! We were on the eighth floor with a view of the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline. Beautiful! Our room had a living room, as well as a bedroom. It was very nice. Jeff and I freshened up and headed back out the door. The concierge was very helpful in telling us how to get across the river and where to go. Had to walk about two blocks to get to the PATH train. It's a subway system that takes you from New jersey to about five different places in New York. It actually goes under The Hudson River! We got on at Newport staion and got off on the last stop, 33rd St. In Manhattan. Everyone calls the Subway trains, just trains in New York

It was chaos when we got out of the subway....PEOPLE EVERYWHERE! I honestly can't say that I have ever seen so many people in one place in my entire life! I was pretty nervous. I am short and I couldn't see over anybodies heads. We walked around a lot. We went to Times Square, we went down 5th ave a bit, then we went to the Empire State Building. I had already purchased tickets in Omaha....but we still had to stand in line. They had security checks just about everywhere. The Empire State Building was no different. We only paid to go to the 86th floor. You could pay more to go to the 96th floor, but we didn't. We had a great view where we were. It took us awhile to figure out which direction we were looking because we couldn't find anyone who spoke English to ask. New York City is such a melting pot and there are so many tourists there! It was certainly beautiful up there though. And it was a beautiful and clear evening. I even saw a shooting star! I felt that that was a message from God of hope for our future. I pray that God continues to heal our marriage. After we went to a place called Jimmy's bar and grill for dinner. It was tasty! We got to watch the Vikings/Packers game while we ate! Perfect ending to a perfect day! I ate a bit much though and then got motion sickness on the train back to New Jersey. I now know NOT to look out the windows when on a moving train with a full stomach! Still a very memorable and wonderful day/night!

Family Pictures, October 2011

2011-12-16T22:17:00.000-06:00

In October, we had family pictures. We have a friend that I used to attend Mops with at Brookside, who is a photographer. Her name is Sarah Poppe. If you are local, you NEED to look her up. She is fantastic!! You would love her...she does a fabulous job. She is great with kids and adults and knows great poses and possibilities. I LOVE fall..it is my favorite time of year....so having the pictures taken outside seemed the thing to do! We LOVE to go fishing, hiking, biking, ect...and one of our favorite places to do those things is Wherspann Lake also known as Chalco Hills here in Omaha.

Wyoming Hunting Trip, October 2011

2011-12-16T21:52:00.000-06:00

In October, Jeff, Cam and Jake got to go hunting with my brother in law Mike, my nephew Shawn and some other friends from hockey. In addtion to that, they had an added bonus....Jeff's dad, Jerry, flew out to go with them! That was fun for EVERYONE!!! They went to Jeffrey City, Wyoming...a little dot on the map....and they stayed in a run down, non functioning hotel that the owner lets hunters use free of charge. No electric, no water...they were roughing it...just with shelter other than a tent. Doing it in TRUE hunter fashion. While they were hunting for those 5 days, my sister Rhonda and I took MaKenna, Major, and her two daughters, Brooke and Kayla to Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City! We had a great time too!!!! Probably MORE fun!! :-)

They saw a BUNCH of wild horses....

but they only came home with Cam's doe...his 5th one of his life! We're very proud!

I assume you may notice the sling around Jake's arm...

yup...he broke it...on the hunting trip...but he doesn't even have a fun story to tell. He got thirsty...on the FIRST day...the Capri Suns were in the back of the truck. He climbed back there to get a drink out of the cooler and fell out of the truck....no...it was not movng...and no...I have no iea what happened....he just...fell....

He got a sling at a hospital about an hour away...then a cast once we got home....a neon green cast! :-) He had the cast for 6 weeks....then he had a brace for 4 weeks...this past week we got the A-OK from the doctor...so far so good!

Susan G. Komen, Race for the Cure, 2011

2011-12-16T21:31:00.000-06:00

The first Sunday in October was the Susan G. Komen, Walk for the Cure. This was our 5th year doing it, and Mama's Family's 3rd year. We made it to 3rd place again for the entire state of Nebraska! We are a very proud team!!! :-) It was a chilly day....but we survived!! WE WILL NEVER FORGET SUZANNE STUTZMAN....ONE of the many reasons we will continue to do it annually!

Melissa and I

Deana, Lydia and I

The Ramsey's!

The Filleman's!

More September Fun!

2011-12-16T21:17:00.000-06:00

September 26th was MaKenna's 7th birthday! We had a HUGE party indoor and outdoor for her! We grilled....we had a pinata...we ran around wild...we jumped on the trampoline...we just had FUN!!!

Then I was give the opportunity to review Mat Kearney's CD and concert! THAT was AWESOME! We are TOTALLY addicted to Mat and his music now!!! Jeff and I had our first date in a LONG time!

Major had a BUSY month!!!!

First Day of School, 2011!

2011-12-16T21:09:00.000-06:00

August 2011 marked the beginning of 1st grade for MaKenna, 5th grade for Jake and 7th grade for Cam. I also hav continued preschool for Major! They had a great first day..and the first half of the year has been pretty good too!!!!

SUMMER LOVIN......

2011-12-16T21:01:00.000-06:00

This summer some very close and very special people to us got married. Tini (Christine) Fukumoto has been like a little sister to me since my sister in law Holly introduced us when Jake was just a wee baby 10 years ago. We've been through a lot together....and I've watched her love blossom with Matt Rukasin over those 10 years. They tied the knot this summr!!! We were SOOO happy for them!!! Tini and Matt live here in Omaha...for now...while she finished med school at Creighton. My one hope is that a hospital here will woo her to them so that they have no choice but to stay! :-)

Congratulations Tini and Matt Rukasin!

More Summer 2011!

2011-12-16T20:54:00.000-06:00

We got the opportunity to review Schlitterbahn on my blog...so we got free tickets to visit them AGAIN! So we did!!!

The same day we came home from Schlitterbahn, we went to the Rose Theater to see a play with Jada, Gracyn and Malissa Randecker! We had a great time!!!

In September, we took our annual Stutzman/Filleman/Flanigan trip to Adventureland in Des Moines, IA! We had a GREAT time!!! As usual!

Summer time

2011-12-16T20:38:00.000-06:00

We had a GREAT summer! I am just going to recap a touch! I had my nieces and nephew this summer and we had a great time! We took quite a few "fieldtrips", and logged many hours outside in the backyard! Here we are at the pool! A place we frequented a lot!

The boys had a summer tim sport....Lacrosse! They both really like it and like how it parrallels with Hockey.

We started the boys on rock climbing...hey...its a start!

We also hit the batting cages a couple times and also Lazer Tag!

Then it was "Aunt" Tini's bridal shower! We had TONS of FUN!!!

MORE Swimming at the pool!!!

Can't forget the FIREWORKS!!!!

MaKenna kept her American Doll close by....

Major does NOT like the sounds of the 4th of July...so he and Sadie (my step puppy) sat inside. Sadie LOVES to help babysit Major!

Then we took a weekend trip to Kansas City to hang out at Cabella's, the Dino (Rain Forest) cafe, and Schlitterbahn! What fun we had!!!!

Cam "worked" at the zoo over the summer as a Student Intern. While he worked, we often just hung out as his shifts were only about 3 hours long usually.

We also went to the zoo with friends! Here is Jake and Gabiel Ramsey....we were at the zoo a lot this summer! I wonder why all f my kids want careers in the zoo!! :-)

On HOT days, the kids stayed inside....here are the younger ones playing LIBRARY! It was SO quiet...and SO cute!!! I LOVE THIS GAME!

Then...more trips to the zoo with the cousins!!!!

We can't forget the trips to see Sparky. On one such trip my niece and Jake went out with Papa...my niece came home with a broken arm from falling off the horse. :-(

Other May happenings

2011-12-12T10:41:00.000-06:00

My dad was the truck driver in May for Pops Ride (Pedal Over Parkinsons). His cousin has Parkinsons...and my grandma died of Parkinsons. It was a ride from Florida to California that my cousins did for Jerry Stutzman. Dad enjoyed being bus driver!

MaKenna had a mom and Kindergartner event....then she also had a dad and Kindergartner event....Jeff was out of town, so Uncle Tanner took his place for the day!

She also lost her first tooth! She has since lost a couple more...including both front teeth...all she wants for Christmas now is her two front teeth!! :-) The tooth fairy even came to visit!

MaKenna also had a Field trip to the zoo with her class. Major and I joined her......

The Neihardt had their annual field day! As usual, I was one of the helpers...it was tons of fun though...and Major always gets a kick out of it!!! She also had her Kindergarden picnic....where I got to remember what it is like to jump rope...TONS of fun!!!

Also in May was Memorial Day. I try to always get to the cemetary to "visit" momma....we were able to go again this year and met Uncle Dick and Aunt Karen there...we ate lunch together after the Memorial Day services and then we headed out to Uncle Dale's farm to play with animals!

Then of course...I must not forget Jake's fourth grade picnic!

We also got to review for my blog www.nebraskahockeymom.blogspot.com the circus!! Ringling, Barnum and Bailey FULLY CHARGED tour!! That was TONS of fun! I hadn't been to a RBB Circus since I was in high school! The kids LOVED it!!

The next day we went to O'Neill, NE to check out this fun town and the Ashfall Beds that are there. The beds are where volcanic ash covered the land and buried all sorts of prehistoric animals. They have dug deep enough to find them. The beds are still being excavated, so you can watch the workers as they excavate. Very cool. Cam and Jake are really into archeology....we thought they might enjoy it! Plus...we saw a part of Nebraska we had never seen before. It was kinda fun!!

Dr. Dixie's graduation!

2011-12-12T10:20:00.000-06:00

Now that I am finally done with the DR Journal...I thought I should catch you up on some of our summer happenings!!! We had a lot of fun! In May it was my sister in laws graduation from PT school here in Omaha at Creighton University!!! YEAH DIXIE!!!! A lot happened for Dixie while she was in Nebraska...she got married...but to an Arizona boy....and graduated with her doctorate!! How exciting!!! Notice Major in the first picture...priceless....

Sunday, Day 11, 7/31/2011

2011-12-11T21:41:00.000-06:00

We woke up at 4:30 am. Yuck! I went and tapped on Jen and Taylers door to wake them, then got Cam up, got ready and we were in the lobby by 5:15. We exchanged our money, then were on the bus for the 30 minute ride to the airport. The drive was nice. We saw a lot more of the history and then half the drive was a coastal drive. Very pretty. The line at the airport was HORRIBLY long...we're glad we got there early. Once we checked our luggage we headed to immigration, then security. Cam and I shopped and had to keep our passports with us, they wanted to see it for everything. They checked our passports three times in the line to get into the plane Crazy, but at least we're safe. We left Santo Domingo on time and I am now on the plane headed to Miami. After a long layover there, we go to Dallas, then finally home at a little after 6 pm.

This trip has been amazing. The things I've seen, heard, tasted, smelled, everything was incredible. As far as I'm concerned Soy Dominicana. I already miss the people, the heat, the landscape. I could live there forever. I thank you Lord for giving me this opportunity.

#2

Our layover in Miami didn't end up being very long once we went thorugh Immigration, passport, getting our luggage, customs and then running to find a bite to eat. Wiping and putting the toile paper in the toilet and flushing and then washing my hands with soap was FANTASTIC! I called Jeff, and he wasn't home, so I called dad and he had the kids as Jeff was at church with a friend. We're on our way to Dallas now. Almost there.

#3

We made it to Dallas. As soon as we got off the plane there was an Auntie Annes with soft, salty pretzels....and...drum roll please.......DIET MOUNTAIN DEW!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was in heaven. We found some french fries at McDonalds for Cam, then I got a yogurt "blizzard" from a yogurt place. We had a meeting and heard Marks testimony. He had an amazing testimony. I learned a lot from him. I called Jeff, he said he was really good. He said he got a lot done! We are taking off from Dallas now...we're on our way home!!!!

Top 3 Trip Details

1) Meeting and getting to know Mi Abuela (Ramona). She looked about 90 years old, but was only 60. She had a very hard life. She is happily taking care of her married, adult son who is in a wheelchair because of a motorcycde accident. She lives in a two room house, on a dirt floor with an outdoor cocina. She is ALWAYS smily and laughing and hugging, she was filled with joy and yet she had so little. I learned a lot from her...we got her chocolate milk.

2) Meeting and getting to know Yolandre. He was such a sweet yet timid little boy. He had a sister that Taylor fell in love with Maria, and their mother was an extremely good woman and mother...better than most we saw. He was one year and eight months and Maria was nine. He would often walk around naked. He sucked his thumb almost all the time, but had a huge grin when he took his thumb out. He reminded me why we do what we do. We do it for the children. It says in Matthew 19:14 "But Jesus said, 'let the children alone and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kindom of Heaven belongs to such as there.'"

3) The translators/culture. the culture was awesome! Everyone is SO hospitable! Anyone, even strangers can go to any house and they will invite you in, offer you something to drink, hug you. They just are very, happy, loving people! You would never see that in America. It reminds me of the verse in the bible that talks about treating others like they were Christ.

Dominican Republic Trip Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Thank you so much for allowing us this incredible opportunity to minister for You in the Dominican Republic. You provide for those people even though it seems like they have nothing. In the words of one of the mothers in Cerros de Mogollon, "You give her everything she needs, no more, no less." Thank you Lord for always providing. Thank you for allowing us to live in a free country and allowing us religious freedom. I ask Your blessing over more trips to the DR for me in the near future. I also ask that you will protect Miguel and Kristen's ministry. Give them strenth and courage alnd always provide for them so they can keep doing Your work. Protect their children too and give them an easy and stress free upbringing. I also pray for all of our translators, especially Daniel. Give him courage to keep learning english and strength and perseverance in finding a job. I pray for the Dominican Rising students and their ministry especially those DR students traveling to Cuba in September. Give them your sheild of protection and give them courage. Thank you again for allowing us to be healthy and safe while in the Dominican and thank you for keeping Jeff, Jake, MaKenna and Major safe as well. I pray these things also with the people in Cerros de Mogollon in mind. Help their hearts to open to Your Word. Open their eyes to your love and beauty. I pray also for their health and safety. I pray especially for Yolandre, Maria and their mother and also mi Abuela and her family. Please give them comfort, peace, health and strength and I pray that they find Your love. I pray these things in Your name, Amen.

Saturday, Day Ten, 7/30/2011

2011-12-10T13:44:00.000-06:00

Today started early. We had to get up, clean up the house, the matresses, etc. We ate breakfast and Miguel came by to give motorcycle rides. Cam and I rode with him. TONS OF FUN! Then we were on the bus headed toward Santo Domingo. Jen and I slept a lot of the way, and the bus was air conditioned, we were actually cold, so we covered up with a blanket! It was weird being in the DR and covered with a blanket in the middle of the day! One hour into our drive and we were told we get a surprise visit to the carribean beach! Since it was on the carribean, the water was mucho warm! We used their bathroom...which we had to hover over. We waded on the water and played for about twenty minutes there. We were back on the bus. We had two more hours to go. We had the same driver and protector. The protector fell asleep again and this time he was next to me, so it was my shoulder he slept on. Once we got to Santo Domingo we got into a traffic jam. They drive crazy! So crazy! We had people trying to jump on the bus, but our protector saved us. At one point though our protector jumped out and ran across the street to get his bus on the schedule. Some one tried to get in, but Cam jumped up and slammed the door in his face. Cam was very nervous though. So Dan got up and took over. Then our protector came back. Soon we got to our hotel. A beautiful hotel with an American flag hanging along side a Dominican flag. It was in the middle of Colonia, where Christopher Columbus lived. The buildings are even from the 1500's. VERY COOL! Tons of shopping and street vendors too. It was raining cats and dogs as usual, but we ran in, showed our passports, checked our luggage because our rooms weren't ready and then we sat down at the hotel restaurant and ordered some food. No rice and beans! I got a club sandwich, Cam got a hamburger! They weren't the best, but they were delicious to us because we've been eating mostly rice and beans and carne. The DR people are very slow paced people, lunch took an hour and a half. In the lobby there was a computer, so I hopped on line, wrote jeff and got on Facebook. Then we finally got our rooms. It is very nice...not like a Marriot, but very nice! A hot shower, a soft bed, an air conditioned room....HEAVEN! Still can't flush toilet paper though! We talk about having a flushing party as soon as we hit Miami! Ater lunch we cleaned up a little for ten minutes, then met Jen in the lobby to go shopping. Trevor and Cam were are "men". We stopped in a lot of places...stores and street vendors. Trevor was a master at bartering. I got a tarantula in a frame that was marked at 1280 pesos for 400 because Trevor was so good. We shopped more and got some more good deals, some more not so good deals, but had a fantastic time! We had to meet back at the hotel at five, so we went back and then left for dinner. We had to trade more money in for pesos though, we shopped some more, checked out some historical places, then stopped for chicken at KFC. Nobody spoke English so it made ordering more difficult, but we managed with my limited Spanish. After dinner we did a bit more shopping, then got ice cream, went to the Supermercado to get water for brushing teeth, then headed back to the hotel to meet everyone and find out when we are leaving tomorrow. Jen, Taylor, Cam, Trevor and I hung out downstairs playing cards. After an hour or so we went back upstairs. They all went to Jens room, I went and took a shower....a nice...long....hot shower. I even got to blow dry my hair! I headed to their room where we watched some YouTube videos and then we went back to our room. We weren't in bed until 11 and our alarm was set for 4:30am. Ugh. It was hard to sleep because there was tons of party music going on outside. I tried to turn the tv on, but it was in Spanish and I couldn't sleep because my mind was translating. The bed was SO nice though, if only the streets below us were peaceful....

Day Nine, Friday, 7-29-11

2011-12-08T19:09:00.000-06:00

I got a bucket shower last night, so I didn't take one tonight. I am told we are in a nicer hotel tomorrow night....well...nicer than bucket showers.....so hopefully I can shower there, if not , I'll be home soon enough.

So today, was yet another concrete day. All the boys and two girls did concrete in the heart of Mogollon, not Cerros De Mogollon, just Mogollon. Like we aren't in just San Juan...we are in San Juan De Maguana. So, right down the street from the church, they did two houses. In the meantime, the rest of us formed three teams. One team stayed at the church to welcome children that the other two teams would get. I was on a team with Payton and Brooke with Hector as our translator. Daniel, Morris and Noidice went camping. First we saw the pregnant woman in the street we hugged her and apologized for not returning yesterday like we thought we would. Then we stopped at another three or four houses to invite the children. After this we stopped at an itty bitty house with a tall, beautiful mother and two equally tall and beautiful children. We sat and talked with her for awhile, she started crying. I hugged her, gave her a kleenix and said, "digeme". She said she was ashamed of her house and how they live. We told her the Lord provides and all the gold and silver she could ever need or want are in heaven where Jesus is, building her a mansion. Hector told her that. He is so bright beyond his seventeen years. We hugged her and went to one last house. The tall woman attended the church and was a christian. So we didn't do the gospel presentation with her, but we did pray with her. At the next house the woman was not a Christian. So after talking with her for awhile we shared the gospel presentation and my testimony. She wasn't ready to accept Christ yet though. We prayed with her and went back to the church.

Today was an incredibly hot day. The church has no fans and no air movement. It was not comfortable at all. We did a story, songs and craft with the twenty two kids that showed up....but then Adam showed up. We call him Adam because this man never wears clothes. He is completely naked. So we closed the doors so the young ladies wouldn't have to see. Jen and I walked over to the well where Hector was helping a girl fetch water and he walked us to the house where they were pouring concrete. They don't like the women to walk around alone....we have to have a man with us at all times. Cam was just standing around...he did not want to be there. We caught Miguel who took all the ladies home to clean the house, since we are leaving tomorrow. The guys stayed until two pm. We came home, ate, packed, and cleaned the whole house. It was excrutiatingly hot. We got it done though. Then Jen and I took our daily siesta. We woke up around 4:15 when the Dominican Rising students came to sell their homemade stuff for a fundraiser for their trip to Cuba. It is a one month missions trip into hostile territory. So I bought myself two bracelets, some pure brown sugar, and pure vanilla. Cam bought one bracelet and a necklace. Then the Dominican Rising students told us about their upcoming trip. Then Miguel and Kristen treated us to pizza! It was really not very good, but it was different then the normal yucca, carne and plaintins. Then we heard Kristens testimony and had ice cream that they brought for us. After, we started a game of Rage, but had to end early as it was debrief time. W did some of the encouragement cards and then heard three testimonies. I had done mine. Several nights ago. It was hard, they all prayed for me and my family. I have been so blessed with a wonderful new group of friends. I don't know how I ever survived without them. After that it was finish packing and then off to bed. We were going to watch the sunrise on Miguels property at 5:55, but it stormed hard again tonight, so we thought it would be too muddy to get out there. Instead we will sleep a little longer, then Miguel is going to give us some rides on his motorcycle. We have to leave this incredible city at 8:30 and we will be leaving my heart behind as well.

Day Eight, Thursday, 7/28/11

2011-11-20T20:45:00.000-06:00

Abuela and I with her chocolate milk!

Jen and I with Abuelas son and his wife.

He actually rode off on the bumpy dirt road with this infant in his lap.

Cam giving a piggyback ride!

Little Yolandre. We brought a bunch of balls for them to keep...he is sitting on one of them.

A mom and her exhausted little one. We also brought these Orange shirts for all of the kids...they say, Jesus te ama. Jesus loves me.

Yolandre ready to catch a ball.

Abuelas outdoor kitchen.

Here is Abuelas kitchen....she is getting "Sopa" ready.

Today was an extremely difficult day. There were tears coming from everyone. Even the men. The day started out great. We headed out to Cerros de Mogollon around nine, and we did the first VBS for the day. It was the Prodigal Son. I was the pig. GO FIGURE! The morning was truly fantastic. I had more fun with mi abuela and yolandre. Cam hung out with Adrian and yolandre. There was no room going back for lunch, so Daniel and I had to sit on the sides of the truck. A little scary going down those dirt roads where potholes are everywhere. I was almost catapulted twice. We ate my new favorite meal, rice and beans. YUM! Jen and I took our daily siesta, but not before we had a good talk. By the way the rice and beans are special. They do their rice by putting oil in the bottom of a pan. Then they put rock salt in, then the rice and water. It is so awesome! As a side note....I have tried this since coming home...I cannot duplicate it...YET! I WILL keep trying! After siesta tiempo we got ready to go out to Cerros de Mogollon again. We did the story of Zaccheus. We had our craft and there was a fire in the bushes. I ran and got Dan. He talked to the locals and they said not to worry about it. Aparently since it storms daily, the brush is pretty wet, so fires don't typically get out of control. Sure enough after about five minutes, it went out. This country is so incredible and so different, I absolutely LOVE IT! I truly don't want to go home...I want my family to come to me here! Anyway, after crafts we played some more. We were able to bring our cameras today so I got all sorts of pictures and videos. Yolandre hung out with Cam and I most of the day. Yolandre really liked Cam. He would pretend to hit him and Cam would fall, Yolandre would laugh and laugh and smile SO big! Cam really enjoyed it. I had bought chocolate milk for mi abuela, so Jenn, Whitney, Cam, Tayler and Daniel and I went to her house to give it to her. She thought that was pretty cool. We took pictures with her and her son who is in a wheelchair becausee of a motorcycle accident. He never got any help after his accident. He can move his legs, but he can't walk. He needs physical therapy in order to walk again. After we left her house, we took Yolandre, his mother and Maria, his sister, home with Jen and Tayler. Tayler and Maria had formed quite a bond. There were massive amounts of tears from us all, even the mother and even Cam. I am not sure if I saw Daniel shed a tear or not though. We had to literally pull Tayler away. We prayed with them and then the team came looking for us. We hopped in. Cam, Daniel and I in the back. All of the girls were still bawling, I am talking massive sobs. Mark was in the back with us and he and I prayed for everyone including our friends in Mogollon. Even the men were crying. The people from Cerros de Mogollon were crying too. It was a very emotional goodbye. Some of the girls were still crying when we got home.

Cam, Daniel and I.

Yolandre and Cam.

Yolandre with a soccer "cone" on his head.

Saying goodbye. Yolandre and Maria with their mom, and Jen and Tayler.

Even Cam was crying...here is Tayler and Maria, Yolandre and Cam and their mom.

Cam on the way home...flanked by Whitney and a tearful Maggie.

The young girls with the translators.

We had about an hour after we got home to freshen up and then the storms came again. We went to dinner about seven. We ate at a little restaurant that had just about everything. We had told them earlier this mornng what we wanted to have because restaurants here don't have a lot of food on hand since they don't have big refrigerators. Cam chose the Bistec. I chose the Hawaiian Porkchops. Both meals came with french fries. Dinner was on the church again. We all had to eat in shifts. It was kinda funny. The people who ordered chicken got theirs first, then the pork chops and so forth and so on. French fries came out for everyone as each batch would finish. And the last two people who ordered pasta didn't even end up getting it because they ran out! It was kinda funny! I have to say though, the food was delicious! Quite possibly the best I've ever had! Scrumptious! After we were done eating, Miguel got us all up to do some dancing, it was so fun! A cockroach got on Serenity though and caused quite an uproar. We walked home and I had a really nice talk with Dan. His dad lives in Apache Junction. Small world. We had our nightly parent-child pow wow. I still don't get it. Cam just seems very disconnected, he still says he doesn't understand things. He wants to know what he is supposed to be looking for when God is talking to him. I've told him that he'll know and that He won't necessarily tak to him audibly, it could be in something that someone else says, or a thought. He just still doesn't get it. As I was sitting here writing this, Keri found a roach about two inches long, staring out of her face wipes container, peering at her. It was chaos. The whole room freaked out and Dan had to come upstairs and kill it. It was kinda funny....but only because it didn't happen to me! I guess last night Dave had a dream that bugs were crawling all over him, so his screaming woke up all the guys as he was swatting imaginary bugs off of him. What a blast we are having. This is a truly fantastic group of people.

Eating out Dominican Style...with a wet tablecloth, under a thatched roof, outside, with lightning and rumbles of thunder all around us.

My porkchop...YUMMY!!!!!

The rain let up...so here we are dancing off the food!

Jen and my first born!

Cam....hiding from the owner of the restaurant who kept nabbing the young men for dances!! :-)

Day Seven, Wednesday, 7/27/11

2011-11-11T22:45:00.000-06:00

Here is Kelly washing his clothes in the bucket.

The Dominican version of the Ice Cream Man...only it is Banana Man!

Frankie, Daniel and Hector.

Trevor and Cam...ready for the ride to Cerros de Mogollon.

Cam and little Adrian.

Mark and the pastors after a hard day at concrete work.

Playing with the kids while the men are doing concrete.

Little girl fetching water.

Dan working concrete in the home.

Dan and Pastor Rigoberto working concrete...the old fashioned way...

Little boy looking inside his home....wondering what the white men are doing.

The pregnant lady we met with.

We woke up really worn out from our day of fun. Not to mention Jen and I stayed up until 11:30 talking about Mops stuff....I am the coordinator of mops childcare....she is the co-coordinator of the whole group.

Here is Tayler with Maria.

Yolandri and I.

Little Leti.

Yolandri and Cam.

Naked Yolandri with his mamma.

Singing time!

Cam and Yolandri.

We all had a tough time rolling out of bed. We were on our way to Cerros De Mogollon at 8:30. But we ended up just going to Mogollon. We would be doing concrete work at a church members house (she had a dirt floor like many people there do). One team stayed at the house to do concrete and play with the kids, and two different teams went walking through the area speaking to people. Hector, Maggie and I were one team, Cam went with the other walking team. Hector was our only man, but we felt comfortable with him and safe. We started at one house, they were good Christians, but we still talked and and prayed with them. The next house were also good Christians, but we still talked and prayed with them. The next house had only men there, but since we had Hector we stopped anyway. There were two men there talking and working on a moto. One man was scarred up and missing fingers and half of an arm. Apparently he got into a fight and his arm was cut off with a machete. We asked them about heaven, and they didn't know, so Hector explained what heaven and hell was. We explained Romans 6:23 and Romans 3:23 and did the gospel presentation. I then shared my testimony. The one fixing the bike decided to accept Jesus. The amputee still did not. He said he wasn't willing and/or ready to give up his alcohol and women. We prayed with him and two more men walked over. We did the same thing, but they didn't want to either. I looked at the amputee and said, "Listo?"....which means "ready?". He said not yet. Then one of their mothers came out, and we did the whole thing again. She also accepted Christ. Then another came and we did it AGAIN, but he also did not want to. I asked the amputee if he wanted to yet, after each one, he smiled each time and just said, "not yet.". We left with two more lives ushered into the Kingdom of God....and we became pros at the gospel presentation after all of that. We asked Miguel, and he said that Dominicans will often tell you what you want to hear....so I am hopeful that they were truly being honest. We left and went back to the concrete house. Dan asked us to go down the dirt road to a pregnant woman's house...we would be staying about an hour later than planned. We went...she also had a dirt floor. She was eight months pregnant in this horrible heat! She had five other children. She offered us juice, but I didn't want to take something from her that might be hard to buy. We did the gospel presentation with her and then her husband came home. We did it again with him. Then I shared my testimony. We asked them if they wanted to accept Christ. She did but, he didn't. I felt an urge to figh for it so I said "por que?"....which means why. He said he could't go to church, he was too busy. We explained that going to church doesn't make you a Christian. He finally accepted Christ with his wife and they were so excited that they hugged and kissed eachother and us. It was great we went back to the concrete house. We waited for awhile in the shade while they finished. Then we came home and ate quickly because we had to get to Cerros de Mogollon. It was our Samaritan Man story. Cam was the guy beaten up and I was the good Samaritan. It was a neat story. Trevor was the donkey and I had to put Cam on his back. Yolandri was there, I just love that boy! His big sister Maria has become special to Tayler too. He spent half the day with us naked, but that is okay. I spent a lot of time with mi abuela and Daniel. Daniel was a big help with her. She keeps talking about chocolate milk. I might have to get her some. We went home for dinner. It started raining while we were out there and it was fabulous. It cooled us righ down. It felt Fantastico! After dinner we took a walk to El supermercado. I exchanged $20 into Pesos, and Cam had to have Tostitos and dip of course. I got dad some coffee and me some crackers and a Twix bar. Dan bought all of us yummy ice cream on the church. Just with what I bought, it cost me $547 pesos. I know in the whole scheme of things that isn't much....but it sure seems like a lot. That was almost my whole $20 though! They charge 26% tax! That's incredible. It's no wonder no one can afford to live here! Just like with the dirt floors. So many people can't afford concrete floors.....but with dirt floors when it rains EVERYTHING in your house gets MUDDY. Can you imagine. YOUR PLATES GET WET, YOUR FOOD, your bedding....wouldn't that be awful.....anld it rains almost daily.
I have absolutely fallen in love with the Dominican people and the Dominican Republic and the Dominican Lifestyle. I truly don't want to go home....except to be with my kids...but I feel like I belong here.

Jen told me that Cam actually prayed with people and shared his testimony. I am so glad for that. Thank you Jesus...I want to raise my children to seek after You.

Happy Veterans Day

2011-11-11T19:31:00.002-06:00

On June 2, 1995, U.S. Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady was patrolling the United Nations designated no-fly zone over war torn Bosnia when his F-16 fighter was struck by a surface-to-air missile at 27,000 feet above the Earth. He desperately pulled his ejection lever and was catapulted into the sky at 350 miles an hour. Remarkably, he managed to land unscathed in enemy territory.

For six incredible days and nights, O'Grady eluded capture by the Bosnian Serbs who relentlessly hunted him. Utilizing his survival training to the maximum, O'Grady said it was also his faith in God that sustained him. On his third day on the ground, he experienced the love of God to such a level that it took away his fear of death. On the sixth day in a daring daylight rescue, an elite team of marines moved in with a chopper, dodged enemy fire, and pulled the young American hero to safety.

At a national press conference following his triumphant return, O'Grady said, "If it wasn't for my love for God and God's love for me, I wouldn't be here right now." His inspirational and patriotic story is a brilliant testimony to Article Six of the United States Military Code of Conduct: "I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America."

Tuesday, Day 6, 7/26/11

2011-10-31T22:50:00.000-05:00

Tayler, me, Serenity and Jen....hanging out...enjoying the day!

The beautiful lake.

Where we enjoyed swimming...and the cave we would climb through!

Where we jumped from...and the waterfall we went down.

The cave.

The waterfall we all tried to climb...but couldn't...except Miguel...but he's had practice!

Ethan and Cam.

Cam climbing up to get to the little hole we had to climb through...it was interesting...

Miguel and Teeka.

God's Beauty.

The water...the waterfall...the cave....makes for a GREAT day!

The cave.

Cam dodging a bat that he didn't know he was dodging...but everyone else did!!!

Climbing up to get to that hole!

Not sure WHAT kind of spider...but we steered clear...just in case....

Ethan and Cam...waiting to go down the waterfall!!

Today was, as Miguel put it, the most awesomest, cool, wonderful day of our lives. And I have to say it was pretty awesome, cool and wonderful! We got to sleep a little bit later, which was fabulous. Then we left around 9am. I rode in the back of the truck with Cam for the hour long ride. We went through a bunch of little towns and saw quite a lot. It was a beautiful drive. The mountains were just incredible to look at. We stopped at one place and took pictures by the amazing lake that we would kind of play in. The lake was dammed and we were playing on the other side of the dam where it became a river. After we took tons of pictures we got back in and went to the other side of the dam. It was beautiful beyond belief. I could live here, Jeff would LOVE to live here. Miguel explained where all of the adventures were. We got in and the water was freezing but refreshing. We walked over to the waterfall and fell on the rocks a few times. We tried to climb the waterfall. Miguel had no problem climbing it, none of us could. Serenity and I cut up our hands trying to climb. We kept falling and getting caught in the current. Then we climbed a rock wall after I fell into a deep hole in the water and hit a rock on my knee. I got a nice bruise. The wall climbing was surprisingly easy. It ended in a bunch of bushes so thats how we pulled ourselves up was on the bushes. Dave fell into the same hole I did except he twisted his ankle badly. Once we climbed the rock wall there was a cliff. Miguel jumped from one spot, but was sure to warn us that there was an irrigation canal that sucked water out right where you jump, so when you jump you have to be able to swim good and fast to not get sucked in. Cam and I decided NOT to try that, but then we found a spot right next to that which we could jump from that didn't suck us into danger. So Kelly went first and he stayed down there to make sure none of us got stuck in the sucking current. Others went, then Cam, then me. It was tons of fun! Once you jump off that then just about 5 feet away is the water fall. When you get to the top it is hard not to get pushed down but you get on your feet in a squatting position and slide down the waterfall. Tons of fun! That one was scary for me though.

ME...climbing to that hole...I did it fairly quickly...I was surprised!

We played around a bit more than had lunch. During lunch Miguel spoke to us about not having a spirit of timidity. We are not to be fearful because God is with us. We need to trust and have faith. It was a wonderful talk, the best one yet. Then he took us to this HUGE rock formation that has caves in it. We went cave exploring. There were 2 teams. 1 team took the easy route and one team took the challenging route, of course Cam and I were on the challenging route. We climbed through small holes on all 4's through goat poop and Guana to get to an enormously beautiful cavern...full of bats! I was feeling wet stuff hit my head, it was Guana! ICK! Then we had to literally CLIMB into another hole that was smaller yet to get to the outside ledge. Beautiful scenery! Then we had to climb through another hole that was even smaller! I really didn't think I'd make it, I had to shimmy. Int the mean time Cam is crawling thorugh the second hold and he is sprawled out and a bat comes down and hits him, he was freaked out, because everyone knew what it was and THEY were freaking out, but he didn't know what it was!

Tayler and Cam

Jen and I

Random motorcyclists

Jen, Miguel, me and Teeka

Ethan, Trevor and Cam

When we got to the end of the hole we had to get out on a ledge about an inch thick and find footings to step in order to not fall down the face of this massive rock! Miguel was helping by teling us where to place our feet, but that was a HUGE scare for me. Cam did a nice job too. Then we climbed all the way to the top and yelled at Heather who was down and across the river so she could take a picture. Then down we went and crossed the river again, one last jump, one last trip down the waterfall, one last try at climbing and we had to leave. The rest of the day we rested and played more Rage. Cam played more Hackeysack. We went to the supermercado to get money exchanged and then we went to the open air market. That is where all the street vendors are. That is a ton of fun too! We didn't stay too long, but we saw some extremely yummy fruit and everything else you can imagine. When we got back, Miguel was waiting for us. He was taking us to his house to eat a special dinner. He lived about a 5 minute car ride away in a nice little area. He has a nice little house. I played with Nicole mostly then Francisco brought the food. It was TACOS! and they were THE best tacos EVER! They were Dominican Tacos. I ate 4! And they were big! We cleaned up for Kristin then went home as a storm was coming and we had to ride in the back of the truck again. One thing I did forget to mention is we almost all got leeches on us in the river. Some worse then others, I was one of the worst with about 14 bites. Cam didn't get any. I have these big nasty bites on me now. I had noticed a snail looking thing on Darwin's shoulder before, but didn't know what it was. Apparently it was a leech. I was so proud of Darwin for jumping in off the cliff because he is terrified of water. He can't swim. Ethan can't swim either, but he also did and Ellen is afriad of heights, but she also jumped. Everyone faced a fear of some sort today. God is with us.

Miguel and Kristen Shaul need our support!

2011-10-31T22:16:00.002-05:00

Miguel and Kristen Shaul...along with their beautiful daughters Nicole and Samantha, are missionaries to the Dominican Republic. They are incredible people with incredible hearts for God and His people...especially the Dominican people. Miguel grew up in my church and he is one of the reasons that our church took their first ever parent/child trip. I don't think we would have gone if he hadn't been there for us to connect with. He and his wife are both free spirited and fun people. I have learned a lot from them in the short time that I was with them. Currently on their blog they outline their current status. http://theshauls.myadventures.org/ If you are at all interested, please check out their blog. They work with Adventures in Missions (AIM) and love every minute of what they do. Thanks in advance for any support you can give them whether it be monetary, spreading the word, or prayer. Anything is helpful!

LOVE AND HUGS!
T

Monday, Day 5, 7/25/2011

2011-10-07T14:53:00.000-05:00

Wow...I am SO behind on posting....So sorry...no excuses...just busy!!! Here is Day 5 in the Dominican Republic!!

Little Adrian

Today started out good. I had breakfast and then went with Jen, Taylor and Dave to get clean water. On the walk there I started feeling yucky again. I had had some orange juice and wondered if that didn't bother me. I had it yesterday morning too. So no OJ anymore in the morning on this trip. We left for Cerros de Mogollon around 8:30. Miguel came with us today, so I rode in the back with about 9 other kids. All of the mud and holes made for a fun ride out there! I was happy to have Daniel again as our translator. The kids were very excited to see us, but our mission today was to do home visits in the morning. A lot of kids came out though so we had one team stay at el play and play with the kids and four other teams went visiting. My team was cam, Darwin and I with Daniel as our translator.

Cam and Adrian

We started at one house where the older gentleman kept talking about how terrible the government was and how they take so much. In fact....and this is true...thie Dominican government taxes 26%! That's insane! We found that most families are born in Cerros de Mogollon and all stick together. It is not uncommon to see two houses on a property with MANY generations together. After we prayed with them we went across the street. We didn't take too long with her. We prayed with her and moved on. Then we went to the little "store" and spoke to them. Their "store" is attached to their house. They sell a few things, as well as clean water. They sit out front their "store" most of the day. The man was fun to tease. He had four children. One was going to med school in Santo Domingo and another, Westcar, was there doing VBS with us. Westcar and his mom Sandra, attend the church in Mogollon, but nobody else in the family does. I asked the dad why he didn't attend. He said it was too far. When it rains and gets muddy it is very difficult to get around. Their rainy season is May-September.

Ellen and Lettie

Taylor and Maria

After we prayed for them we went to another house. One thing I forgot to mention, when they pray they pray out loud. For example, Sunday at church when the pastor prayed...or like when we prayed for them, they pray different worded at the same time. Agreeing or what not, so at the church, there was a lot of noise during prayer. Anyway, the next house we had to sit inside because there was no porch, they were surrounded by rice patties. The woman of the house was three months pregnant. She was very sweet. We prayed with her and moved on to the next house. This house was so full of men, women and children that I can't even begin to tell you how many there were. They were really awesome people. One man was a teacher. Miguel said that teachers, doctor's and nurses make NO money hardly here. Street vendors can make more money than they can. Anyway, they offered us Canapés. They are kinda like grapes, only you have to peel them, and they have to be sucked because there is a huge pit inside. They are VERY sour. But they were tasty! Then they brought us a Guava. We were told before the trip not to eat the outside of things. However, these people told us to eat it like an apple. I said no...so they gave me a machete to peel it. It was sharp and not the cleanest. So then they said to stick the whole thing in my mouth, seeds and all. So...I just took a bite, and it was NASTY! I had seeds stuck in my teeth and I said, "lo siento, pero, no me Gusto!" They laughed. After we prayed we left, I kept burping guava, it was terrible! Daniel and all the other translators said they love guava! ICK! So we were late getting to the vans, in fact they came looking for us.

We went back to the house, ate lunch, I took a siesta, and then we were off again for VBS. It was nice out. There was a little old lady, her name was Ramona, she looked about 85-90. We asked her her age and she said she was 60! She was so skinny, I told her she needed to eat chocolate to get muy fuerta! She laughed. She had such a cute laugh...more like a giggle. Her eyes were beautiful brown with a rim of blue around each one. Very pretty....my moms mom had eyes like that. We talked and teased for awhile, then I had to go help with VBS, so I said goodbye and she hugged me and smacked me on the tushie! It was funny! Our story was Jesus walks on water. Ater singing and the story we broke into little groups. We had some really young ones, so we did the craft, then the blind train game where one leads with eyes open, but everyone behind had their eyes shut. It is a trust game....it's a lot of fun. Then we left....but not before I introduced Cam to Ramona.

Some of our translators, Thomas, Frankie, Maggie and Daniel

Yolandri in the Sponge Bob Shirt

We had dinner, yucca, plantains and meat again. We debriefed a little...then I played hackeysack with the kids and some other adults. It really is fun! Then Mark, Serenity, Gabe, Darwin and Dave, taught Cam and I how to play Rage. It was such fun...we played two games, and I lost both horribly...I was in last place, both times! (I liked it so much, as soon as I got home I went on eBay and bought it!). Then off to bed. Jen, Serenity, Taylor and I talked for awhile...then we hit the sheets!

My baby, Yolandri

Mi y mi corazon, Yolandri.

Sunday, Day 4, 7/24/11

2011-09-01T21:11:00.000-05:00

Sorry this has taken me a lot longer to get through then I originally expected. Something always seems to come up. This last lull in movement on this blog was due to the 105 degree temps that MaKenna and Major were running. Then...as not to be left out apparently, I got sick as well. Not 105 degree fever...but sick nonetheless. I am on the mend though. And hopeful that no one else gets sick as our Labor Day weekend is supposed to be in Kansas City at Schlitterbahn! PRAY FOR US!! There are only 3 more that could get sick....3 out of 6 isn't bad...right? :-) I miss the Dominican more and more each day. I am REALLY looking forward to my Spanish Communications course that I am taking. It starts on the 6th. Well....here is Day 4!!

Hoy es Domingo. I an finding myself speaking Spanish even when I don't have to, and even thinking in Spanish. I am so glad that I know as much as I do, but wish I knew even more. I would like to take classes when I get home I think. So today started at 6:30 again. Breakfast was doughnuts and scrambled eggs. I LOVED them, but couldn't finish them, I started getting kind of sick to my stomach. I had to go to the little girls room several times before we left. Heather and Jen prayed for me though and it wasn't long and I was feeling better. I found though that even if I clean out my water bottle, the taste of Gatorade DOES NOT leave. So as long as we still have Gatorade packets, I will only put Gatorade in my bottle and I'll just drink water when I am here in a plastic cup. We have to buy our water to drink because it is not good from the tap, we could get very sick.

We got to the location Cerros de Mogollon around 9AM. We had to go back around and invite everyone again and apologize for missing yesterday. It was so muddy! My shoes got horribly filthy! Our translator today was Boris. He is a tailor, 28 years old and going to the University. He was very nice. We then started Bible School. We had about 50 kids there. We sang songs, had the story and then broke into groups to do questions and the craft. We had a lot of fun. The older kids (mostly boys) hung out with the boys on our team playing hackey sack and what not. Most of the crafts and things were done by the moms and daughters. The first story was creation. My baby was there, with clothes on. I called him Mi Corazon. He was so cute! After we played some games like hot potato and frisbee. I was feeling better, but Brooke still was not. We came back for almuerzo. It was yummy rice and beans and chicken again. Francisco stayed and ate with us. After lunch he gave us his testimony. It was great to hear. He said his son got cholera and was healed by God. He's never looked back since. After lunch we watched the rain fall...HARD! It was falling sideways, it was incredible! I've only seen the rain REALLY fall like that in the tropics, one time before and that was when I was in Jamaica. We weren't sre about VBS, but it stopped in time that we did go out. It was SO muddy though! My feet were heavy from the mud. My shoes look awful, but they can be cleaned. The kids were so excited to see us! As we drove down the road and passed houses they would wave and run along side the truck saying, "The Americans are here!" It was neat to see. So we did Bible School with them again, played tons of fun games, sang songs and did a craft. There weren't quite as many kids there in the afternoon, probably because of the rain, but we still had a great time.

We came home around 5 and ate very quickly because we needed to leave again at 6 for church. They do church in the evenings here because of the heat. We ate PB and J sandwiches, Cam and I ate crackers and cheese. We got cleaned up for church, got in our dress clothes and headed out. We went to Mogollon for church. It is up a little further than the community where we are doing VBS. We got there and all piled into wooden benches. There were about 6 rows of benches on either side. There was a pulpit, one speaker and that's about in. It had three doors that remained open and lots of windows that were also opened. Their windows here aren't like the windows in the US though. They don't have glass in their windows. Its just like a bunch of shutters. There was a party going on across the street. A lot of loud, booming DR rap music. It was very difficult to pay attention and to hear. It was an awesome service though. They sang some incredible songs. A capella as they don't have much for musical instruments...lots of loud voices and clapping, lots of dancing. It was incredible! Then we had a couple songs to sing in Spanish for them. Then we sang up front for them in English. We sang How Great Thou Art and they joined in with Spanish. After we sang, they said "Mas!" So we sang a couple more! Cam was SO nervous, he was sweating and almost hyperventilating. Dan spoke and did a great job. Then Mark spoke and sang some more. Then we heard testimony from Jen and Kelly. They both also did incredible jobs! The service lasted about two hours. But it went by very fast, even in the heat. They ended early because of the music across the street. So he turned on his iPod connected to the speaker and some really loud music came on. We danced with the kids and adults and even did a conga line! The Dominican people are very touchy feely so they hugged us all multiple times and we did that for almost 30 more minutes! It was truly fascinating to watch them worship God in their way! We took group pictures and piled back into the vans. We did have translators at the church too. Frankie and Hector were there.

We came home and I bucket showered in the dark. When we got home there was no electricity. We were told that electricity would be hit or miss. So I hung my flashlight in the shower and even shaved my legs! It was fun! Quite an experience! I started out the day not feeling well, but ended the day on a very positive note! God is Good!

I had trouble with picture placement this time...so here are some pictures......

Here are some of the parents that were watching the kids doing Bible School. Dan Holmes is the white guy in the back! :-)

Here is my best friend travel buddy Jen Lempke, me and Abuela (Ramona).

This is our kitchen sink. It was totally open air. You almost always got wet while doing dishes too as there are no pipes from the sink to the floor.

Here is my sun burnt Cam eating one of his lunches when the rest of them had PB and J. Poor thing is allergic to Peanuts and eggs in case some of you didn't know...

Dios es bueno!

Here are a few of the kiddos.